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I don't believe this. Why did I ever sign up to be an RA? Helga couldn't stop looking at her watch. She was surrounded by Dover's Hall's complaining elite. Dover's Hall had one great attribute, the top floor was one entire suite of rooms that was usually shared by four senior girls. Some clerical error had been made and there were currently ten girls assigned to four beds.
"Where am I supposed to sleep tonight?"
"What happened? Who's fault is this?"
"I hate this stupid school"
"Helga, do something!"
DO something? They want me to DO something? Helga watched as the screaming girls surrounded her. They were starting to close in on her. One of the girls started to shake her.
"Helga do something. Do something Helga! Helga! Come on Helga!"
"Aaaaaagggghhhhh!" Helga screamed.
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"Wake up Helga." Helga looked up to see her roommate Pheobe's face filled with concern. "Sorry Pheebs..I think this R.A. thing is getting to me."
Pheobe searched Helga's face. She knew the real reason Helga was stressed. From experience, though, she knew not to say anything too direct.
"I see what you mean Helga. This is your first fall season as an R.A., your sister married this summer..." Pheobe continued cautiously "..and of course Arnold's back."
For a second Helga's face gave her away. Then she regained her senses.
"Pheobe," she started firmly. "I'm going to set the record straight. Arnold was eons ago. After he moved away I might have had some problems but I survived. I moved on. I mean I've probably had more relationships than most girls our age."
"Helga, that's part of the problem. You've had too many relationships. You couldn't name one relationship that's lasted more than a month or two. If you were a case study in my psychology class I'd say that you have a deep rooted fear of intamacy, probably stemming from early abandonment. Perhaps Arnold moving had a lasting effect on your relationships with men."
Helga's eyes started flashing with anger. Her outer shell wasn't as thick as it was as a child but it still hurt when it was penetrated. More then anything she hated the fact that her best friend could crack that shell.
"Look Pheobe," Helga began furiously. "I am no 'case study' so stop analyzing my life! You don't even understand what it's like to be young and dating different people. You dated Gerald through junior high, high school, and now through college. You've been going out with Gerald for SEVEN years!"
Helga looked at her best friend and roommate. I shouldn't have yelled at her like that, no matter how angry I was. Helga sighed. "Pheebs, I'm sorry. You're right I'm a little stressed out and Arnold returning came as, well, somewhat of a shock." Helga glanced up the clock. "Oh man.. as much as I'd love to continue this conversation, I have to meet Arnold in ten minutes." With that Helga checked her face in the mirror, threw on her jean jacket and left the room.
Pheobe looked towards the door and sighed. "I know you still love him. I'm just afraid of how much."
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7:06 Clifton Library-
Arnold watched as Helga entered the library. She paused for a moment and searched the room for Arnold. When she saw him, her face brightened. Never thought I'd see the day when Helga would look that happy to see me.
"How's it going?" Helga said as she sat across from Arnold. "Did you have any trouble finding your way around?"
"A little. One interesting thing happened, though, I met Micheal Cooney. He's in my Psych. class. We had a pretty O.K. conversation."
"You had a conversation with Cooney the Looney? Strike that. Micheal Cooney can actually have a conversation? The most I ever heard from him were some assorted grunts mixed with one syllable words. And I went to high school with the guy for four years."
"Helga, you have to look for the best in people. I mean you might have known him for four years but did ever bother to find out any personal information about him? He's taking Psych because he wants to be a psychologist. It turns out he went through some pretty hard years in his teens. He told me all about how his having a psychologist gave him a desire to help people. He's almost as smart as Pheobe...he's just been hiding behind a facade."
You don't need to tell me about 'hiding behind facades'. I hid behind enough of them. "Wait a minute. Why do I get the feeling that you're going to end up rooming with this guy?"
"Probably because you're good at judging people Helga." Arnold said smiling at her. "And you're right. I am going to go ahead with Mike as a roommate. I'd appreciate it if you could remember to call him Mike. He doesn't like that 'Looney' stuff."
"Well then, if you're not going to be switching roommates I guess I might as well go." Helga said as she started picking her things up off the table. Arnold put his hand on her arm. "You don't have to go. I thought we could talk."
"About what?" Helga felt her face growing warm. Arnold released his hand as Helga sat down.
"It's just that, since I saw you this morning, I've been wondering why you never wrote me. I got so many letters from classmates after I moved that I almost thought that Simmons had been assigning it for homework. Like 'Ok all my special people, tonight we're going to write our special friend Arnold his weekly letter.'"
Helga laughed. "Yeah I guess I can see Simmons saying something like that." Helga avoided Arnold's eyes. "So a lot of our classmates wrote you?"
"Please don't evade my question. Why didn't you ever write me? I mean I know that we were never best friends but I thought we were at least friends."
He considered me a friend?
"Arnold. I was ten. I had alot of problems. Do you really think that I fully understood the meaning of friendship? Look how I treated Pheobe..and she was my best friend." Helga knew she was lying beautifully. After all, she was a drama major, minoring in writing. Even so, she felt bad lying to Arnold. How can he think I never wrote him? What about the letter? He must have read it. There's no mistake that it was mine. I signed it Helga G. Pataki.
"I never knew you had so many problems. I knew your dad wasn't that great and I knew that your sister was a little too great. I guess I didn't know much past that. Why don't you tell me now? I have nowhere to go."
He wants me to sit here and tell him all of my problems from when I was young? That's going to be a little difficult considering that I'll have to leave out the biggest problem I had.
"Well," Helga started taking a deep breath. "It all started when I was a little girl...."
That night Helga told Arnold a great deal about her life and her family. At the beginning of the conversation a small part of Arnold felt like he was doing his duty by listening. As Helga got deeper and deeper into her home life he found that his interest in her was growing. It wasn't until closing time that the two parted. Arnold left thinking that he had gained a new friend. Helga left feeling overcome with a whirlwind of emotions. Both left with the same thought: What will these next few weeks bring?
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Author's Note: This chapter's a little on the short side too..but what are ya gonna do? I don't know why I bothered with an Author's Note. I guess I should have another part up by Thursday (21st) but I think you guys know me enough to know that I'm usually early. Peace!